News

  • NCI-AD Team Presents at HCBS Conference 2023

    Sep 14th, 2023

    The NCI-AD team participated in several presentations at the HCBS conference including “So You Think You Can Stratify” about state sampling stratification strategies and “The HCBS Quality Measure Set: A Blueprint to Comply with the Access Rule & Raise Service Quality in Your State” on considerations around the Access Rule NPRM. A third presentation “Data to Innovate, Inform, and Influence: How States are Using NCI-AD for HCBS & DSW Policy and Planning” discussed ways to use NCI-AD data to support quality improvement initiatives, representatives from two states (ND and CO) discussed ways their states are currently using NCI-AD data.

    Download Presentation Slides (PDF)

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  • The 2023 Sarah Taub Memorial NCI Webinar

    Aug 14th, 2023

    You are invited to attend the 2023 Sarah Taub Memorial NCI Webinar on September 6th, 2023 from 3-4pm Eastern Time.

    National Core Indicators (NCI) is the most comprehensive and representative source of data on the characteristics and outcomes of people with disabilities and older adults who use long-term services and supports (LTSS). In 2021-2022, NCI surveyed over 27,000 older adults and people with disabilities using long-term services and supports, as well as 27,502 family members and guardians of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities receiving state-funded services. This webinar will showcase the key findings about access to services, community inclusion and participation, health and wellness, rights and respect, and person-centered planning across the populations who participate in NCI. Discussion will explore trends in these outcomes across service users, including which outcomes are promising and in need of improvement, as well as outcomes that differ across populations. The findings shared in this webinar will improve understanding of where there are gaps in outcomes for service users and can inform LTSS policy and practice. Register today!

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  • National Core Indicators-Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) State of the Workforce in 2021 Pilot Report

    Aug 1st, 2023

    The service systems providing long-term services and supports (LTSS) to older adults and people with disabilities are currently struggling with challenges recruiting and retaining Direct Support Workers (DSWs). Without an adequate workforce providing support, people receiving services from these systems do not have the quality or continuity of supports they need to live and thrive in their homes. However, to date there is a gap in uniform data collection on the DSW workforce within states and across the nation.

    The National Core Indicators-Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) State of the Workforce Survey aims to collect crucial indicators of stability and quality of the workforce such as turnover, length of employment, vacancy rates, and more. In addition, the survey collects data to describe the workforce and workforce circumstances, such as demographic information, information on the types of supports provided, wages, benefits, etc. Information collected through this effort is critical to understanding the true scope of the workforce crisis and to provide better a context to support state efforts to recruit and retain DSWs.

    In 2022, National Core Indicators-Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) launched a pilot to test the NCI-AD State of the Workforce Survey (SotW), which was administered to provider agencies employing direct support workers (DSW) within the aging and disabilities LTSS sector. The survey was piloted with five participating states: Missouri, Washington, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Indiana. The goal of the pilot was to assess the feasibility of collecting this information and to finetune the survey instrument.

    The pilot survey and analysis found that the NCI-AD State of the Workforce effort can reliably collect data from provider agencies on the DSW workforce supporting the AD population. Several lessons were learned from the pilot that will facilitate data collection in the future.

    Read the PILOT REPORT

    Report Summary

     

  • National Core Indicators Comments on the Notice of Proposed Rule-Making: Access Rule

    Jul 6th, 2023

    On June 30, National Core Indicators submitted a comment letter to CMS in response to the Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Proposed Access Rule).

    Read Comment Letter

  • NCI®-IDD & NCI-AD™ measures included in first-ever HCBS Quality Measure Set

    Jul 25th, 2022

    On Thursday, July 21, CMS released a State Medicaid Director Letter providing guidance for the first-ever HCBS Quality Measure Set. This letter was the first of two planned guidance documents from CMS related to the measure set. 

    As noted in the State Medicaid Director Letter, CMS provides states flexibility to select measures from the consumer survey of their choice from the following validated tools: HCBS CAHPS®, and POM®, and the National Core Indicators Surveys: NCI®-IDD, NCI-AD™.

    The significant inclusion of NCI®-IDD & NCI-AD™ within this national measure set is a testament to the vision, dedication and leadership of state human services systems, NCI staff and staff at HSRI, NASDDDS, and ADvancing States. These entities have continued to emphasize the importance of a robust quality monitoring program that ensures that the experiences of people who access LTSS are at the forefront of quality improvement efforts. NCI partners have consistently expressed to our federal partners how NCI measures align with stakeholder and state priorities and expectations for quality and monitoring.

    As CMS noted in this communication, quality measures will continue to be developed and enhanced. We are committed to further measure development and testing to ensure that NCI remains a valuable and valued tool that supports states in improving quality LTSS.